"To pray for one another is, first of all, to acknowledge, in the presence of God, that we belong to each other as children of the same God." I've always found it interesting that when Jesus taught us to pray, he always used the plural. "Our Father who art in Heaven....Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, just as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil."
Although God made us unique, we have the same basic physical and spiritual needs and the same struggle against sin. We are all members of the human race with one common Creator.
Prayer certainly has power. But, Nouwen does not offer yet another testimony on how God delivered things that we have long asked of him in prayer. This is not to diminish these requests, for they have their rightful place in our prayer life. Nouwen's focus, though, is on the power of prayer to reveal to us that the Father loves us equally as sons and daughters. We enter into and experience a spiritual truth. "To pray, that is, to listen to the voice of the One who calls us "beloved," is to learn that that voice excludes no one."
To conclude his passage, Nouwen stresses that intimacy with God and solidarity with all people are inseparable. As John writes in one of his letters:
"If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also. (1 John 4: 20-21)."
It is reassuring, especially for those for whom intimacy is a great challenge, that despite our own wounds and willfulness, God spells out the answer very simply: We must strive to love others and deepen our intimacy with them, if we would truly love God and deepen our relationships with Him. The concept of this Scripture severs nicely as a barometer, of sorts; to measure the extent of our intimacy with God by the extent of our intimacy with others.
1 comment:
"The concept of this Scripture severs nicely as a barometer, of sorts; to measure the extent of our intimacy with God by the extent of our intimacy with others."
Ooh. Convicting. :/
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